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Nx OsOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2019-1612

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-03-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.0 or later.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments passed to certain CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including malicious input as the argument of an affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with elevated privileges. An attacker would need valid administrator credentials to exploit this vulnerability. Nexus 3000 Series Switches are affected running software versions prior to 7.0(3)I4(9) and 7.0(3)I7(4). Nexus 3500 Platform Switches are affected running software versions prior to 7.0(3)I7(4). Nexus 3600 Platform Switches are affected running software versions prior to 7.0(3)F3(5). Nexus 9000 Series Switches in Stand are affected running software versions prior to 7.0(3)F3(5).

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Authenticated command injection vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS CLI where insufficient validation of arguments passed to certain CLI commands allows an attacker with administrator credentials to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with elevated privileges.

MitigationApply the vendor software updates (7.0(3)I4(9), 7.0(3)I7(4), or 7.0(3)F3(5) depending on platform) to fix the argument validation. Until patched, restrict administrative CLI access to trusted personnel only.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Nx OsOperating system
Affected:>= 7.0\(3\), < 7.0\(3\)i7\(6\)>= 7.0\(3\)i5, < 7.0\(3\)i7\(6\)>= 7.0\(3\)f3, < 7.0\(3\)f3\(5\)< 7.0\(3\)f3\(5\)>= 7.0\(3\)f1, < 7.0\(3\)f3\(5\)

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the NX-OS version
    Run 'show version' in the NX-OS CLI and note the 'NXOS' version number displayed (e.g., 7.0(3)I7(5))
    Affected if The displayed version falls within these ranges: 7.0(3)I5(x), 7.0(3)I7(0-5), 7.0(3)F1(x), or 7.0(3)F3(0-4)
  2. Confirm administrator credentials exist
    Check if any local user accounts with 'network-admin' or 'privilege 15' exist using 'show users' or 'show running-config | include username'
    Affected if Any administrator-level accounts are configured on the device (this is required for the attacker to have valid credentials)
  3. Check if CLI access is exposed
    Review the device's management access configuration with 'show running-config | include interface mgmt' and 'show ip access-list' to see if the management interface (typically mgmt0) is reachable from untrusted networks
    Affected if The management interface is accessible from networks outside the trusted administrative zone (e.g., internet, guest networks, or other untrusted segments)

The device is affected if it runs an NX-OS version in the 7.0(3)I5, 7.0(3)I7(0-5), 7.0(3)F1, or 7.0(3)F3(0-4) trains AND has administrator accounts that could be compromised by an untrusted user with CLI access.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 7.0 or later
Fixed in 7.0
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor software updates (7.0(3)I4(9), 7.0(3)I7(4), or 7.0(3)F3(5) depending on platform) to fix the argument validation. Until patched, restrict administrative CLI access to trusted personnel only.

Fix this in Nx Os Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-1612 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data